The present invention relates to a road cleaning device, and more particularly to an electro-magnetic device adapted to be mounted in front of a vehicle's front tires to pick up magnetically attractable road hazards such as nails, screws, tacks, bolts, miscellaneous scraps of metal and the like.
The majority of tire-damaging objects are made of magnetically attractable materials which can be picked up with a suitable electro-magnetic device. These tire-damaging objects often cause either leaks or blow-outs to pneumatic tires. Tire punctures, particularly at high speed, usually cause loss of vehicle control, and can result in damage to the vehicle or other property, accidents, injury and even death. Furthermore, even if the driver is fortunate enough to safely steer the vehicle off the roadway, changing the punctured tire on a highway is considered to be dangerous.
Previous magnetic pick-up devices have left much to be desired. Usually, the pick-up device of the prior art is mounted either between the front and rear wheels, or behind the rear wheels. Thus, the front wheels of the vehicle, by far the most important from a vehicle-control stand point, were left susceptible to the very objects which are to be picked up. Other known pick-up devices require large bulky structures and separate electrical generators, where these structures are judged to be clumsy to operate and not commercially feasible. Still other known pick-up devices teach the pushing of wheeled magnets in front of the vehicle, thereby exposing the protective device to the road hazards, not to mention the added complexity of such a device. Accordingly, none of the prior art discloses a simple and efficient electro-magnetic road hazard eliminator for a vehicle, which can be easily mounted and maintained.